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The Yàngbǎn
The Yàngbǎn (樣板)Wiktionary are the C.U.I.'s military parahumans operating within the borders of China. Goals and Methods The Yàngbǎn are made up of various parahumans, most Chinese, but some from other countries who were traffickedThe C.U.I. had bought a parahuman. Not so unusual. Higher rates, as of late, but then, the C.U.I. faced a slight chance of an Endbringer attack in coming weeks. They would want to bolster their forces, add parahumans to their peculiar team. - Interlude 21.xMurder was out, but there were other options. He’d sent capes to the Yàngbǎn before. It was more constructive than killing. Cleaner. It also built relationships with the C.U.I.. Excerpt form Interlude 20.y or kidnapped directly.Their destination was a flattened building, with a group of dead, maimed and dying Indian capes lying in the debris. ... Three reached down, and others around him joined in, making contact with one of the dying. It took nearly a minute, to attune everything the right way. But the effect took hold, and the injured hero disappeared. Five looked to Cody and pointed at the next one. ... But he could feel the tickle of new powers taking hold. The three they’d collected from the shattered building were joining them, like it or not. - Excerpt form Interlude 23 They have been formed through brainwashing often unwilling parahumans into their cult-like group. Prospective members are forced through a series of questions on Yàngbǎn doctrine and tortured when they fail."The Yàngbǎn is the solution," the taller of the two said. "You agree this is truth?" "No," Lung said. "That is a shame." "I want out of here," Lung told them. "That is all. If I must kneel, I will." "We need to hear the right answers before we can go any further. We will come again in two weeks time and we will ask you again. If you give us the answer we require, we can move on to the next step." And, Lung thought, carry down the chain of questions, steps, and procedures until I fail. You will break me and brainwash me until I am one of you. - Interlude 22.y Individual members were identified only by their numbers, not names. Mistakes such as mispronunciations or using English would be subtly punished with shunning and less food. Acceptable statements would be repeated by the group, signaling social acceptance, while unacceptable ones were met with crushing silence. Their punishing schedule renders them especially pliable. This effect was subtly augmented using One's power.Wildbow on IRC, archived on Spacebattles The Yàngbǎn are taught, not entirely incorrectly, that non-Yàngbǎn parahumans are dangerous and violent.His teammates, he knew, were raising their hands in anticipation of a fight. They were distrustful. They'd been taught that foreign heroes were dangerous, unpredictable. Thing was, they were right. As a rule, capes were fucked up. People were fucked up. The Yàngbǎn, Cody mused, resolved the situation by stripping capes of their humanity. - Interlude 23 They believe that the PRT and Protectorate are fundamentally corrupt and the source of many problems in the world, and generally refused to cooperate with them. They believed that their methods were the answer that would eventually defeat the Endbringers. They were noted for respecting the Endbringer Truce less than most cape organizations."Your support is welcome, and that's why we couldn't ever ask you to make this leap of faith," Chevalier said. "I understand your motives are pure, but if some accident transpired, and a good cape didn't make it back, it would mean war." - Interlude 23 The Yàngbǎn are trained in tinkertech combat simulations where individual members shout out instructions and they all use a practiced maneuver e.g. opening fire with lasers, or using forcefields. They are all expected to be able to use every power they have available. The drills last six hours a day, their lectures last twelve hours, leaving only 45 minutes for food and five hours for sleep. By the time of Gold Morning, they had over 200 trained parahumans."The Yàngbǎn were doing more harm than good," I said. "They were limiting their strikes to civilians. Not something I agree with, but with Earth, with every Earth on the line, I'd forego two or three thousand lives for the help of over two hundred of the C.U.I.'s trained parahumans." - Cockroaches 28.5But two hundred parahumans and a set of elite capes focused on defense and counterattacks was ominous. - Speck 30.3 They had six teamsThe Yàngbǎn were dealt with. There were two major raiding parties, if we judged solely by the colors of their masks, and three or four other sub-groups tasked with different functions. - Cockroaches 28.5 trained around different functions, including infiltrationNot the same Yàngbǎn I’d encountered before. These ones wore similar outfits, but there were bodysuits beneath, no bare skin. The multifaceted gem designs that covered their faces were dark blue, their costumes black. Infiltrators. A sub-set. One of five sub-groups, apparently. Excerpt form Cockroaches 28.4 and speed. Structure They also kidnapped three Indian Garama; a brute, a thinker or tinker with a focus on guns, and a thinker with x-ray vision. Other abilities demonstrated by Yàngbǎn members include invincibility at the cost of immobility, blurry illusions, invisibility, slow-moving projectiles, energy bladesCockroaches 28.4 instant teleportation and heat generation. In addition to their normal members, there were several allied individuals who had not been made a part of the whole. Appearance All Yàngbǎn wore gem-like masks that covered their faces and ears.Extinction 27.2Cockroaches 28.1 Their costumes were colour-coded and varied depending on their task. The Yàngbǎn who showed up to the New Delhi Endbringer battle wore flowing costumes with loose sleeves and pants, somewhere between a martial arts uniform and a military uniform, crimson with a black design of horizontal and vertical lines at edges of the sleeves and pants.They were lined up like musketeers, rank and file, each a set distance apart from the others. The ones in front were kneeling, the ones behind standing. Each wore a mask that covered their faces, flowing costumes with loose sleeves and pants, somewhere between a martial arts uniform and a military uniform, each crimson with a black design of horizontal and vertical lines at edges of the sleeves and pants. There were nearly thirty of them. All together, they directed lasers at him, aiming for his one red eye. He blocked the concentrated laser-fire with one claw, and the flesh at the base of the obsidian claw began peeling away. ... "Excepting diplomatic functions, this is the first time in over a decade that any of the Yàngbǎn have set foot outside of China," Defiant said. "We've tried to arrange for their aid in the past, but relations between our side and theirs are sour. For years, they've alleged that the PRT and the Protectorate are fundamentally corrupt, the source of the problems currently plaguing the world." - Drone 23.5 They had red masks. The ones that interrogated Lung wore red masks, jackets and pants, each with their number embroidered on the shoulder.They appeared, descending from above, floating. Two of them this time. They made no mention of his lack of clothes or his shaggy hair. Both wore identical uniforms, red jackets and pants, their red masks turning their faces into overlarge, featureless gemstones with coverings over their ears. At each of their shoulders, there was a number. One-six and two-seven. - Interlude 22.y The group that attended the Gold Morning meeting with Cauldron wore similar uniforms to those of the New Delhi group, although possibly in different colors. Three teams defended the Imperial palace during Gold Morning, wearing masks of white, purple, and yellow respectively. A fourth squad with jade green masks guarded the Imperial family inside the palace, and a small group with red masks were hidden by holograms.I could see the Yàngbǎn in full force. Three groups of sixty to one hundred and thirty capes, arranged on broad, square platforms of stone that had been raised off of the ground, each facing outward, their backs to the palace. Every one of them was in a matching outfit, their masks white, purple, and yellow, in turn. They were tending to wounds, and the gaps in their number suggested they’d taken heavy losses. ... a fourth squad of Yàngbǎn ringing the group in concentric circles rather than in rows and columns. This squad wore masks like the others, multifaceted gemstones large enough to cover their faces, but the gems were a jade green. The bodyguards, thirty in all. The scariest capes in their group. ... There was another contingent of Yàngbǎn within one of the revealed partitions. Red masks, like the ones I’d seen in New Delhi. A small squad of throwaways. - Excerpt from Speck 30.3 History Background The Protectorate had repeatedly asked for their help in fights against Endbringers, but was always rebuffed. They are formed around the abilities of Null and Two. Null's power splits each individual's powers amongst the group,A small handful of individuals in the C.U.I. hadn't been brought onto the group. Null, the cape who made the Yàngbǎn possible, was independent. He couldn't be a part of the whole. ... If I didn't think Null would rescind my powers, I'd kill you here and now. Reluctantly, still stewing with anger, he obeyed ... He didn't have much time before the Yàngbǎn found a free moment to contact Null and rescind his powers. Maybe they were calling already. Maybe the electromagnetic radiation in the area would block the call. - Interlude 23 while Two's power boosts the powers around them. When the two are used in concert, the Yàngbǎn are able to share a sizable fraction of powers among a group.He felt a rush, just being part of the unit. Being a part of a maneuver that let them cut through a burning ruin of a building with the ease they had. Some of that rush, he knew, was the second path. Magnification of powers. Two wasn't present, she was too valuable to risk losing, but they still shared her power between them. Each of them had a sliver of her ability to enhance the powers of those nearby. It was the reason their powers worked to the degree that they did, a feedback loop in power augmentation across their whole unit.-Interlude 23 They tried to recruit Lung, however the Man-Dragon did not agree with the organisation's "truths" and defected as soon as possible.Interlude 22.y Post-Echidna They showed up in New Delhi, one of their first appearances outside of China in a decade, at Accord's request.Interlude 24.x However a traitor in their midst defected and attacked the Protectorate leadership that was coordinating the defence.23.xThey were later convinced to help by Weaver in a decisive move against Behemoth.Crushed 24.4 They refused Cauldron's offer to join the meeting of all the major powers to oppose Khonsu.Scarab 25.5 The Timeskip After the Simurgh baited heroes into destroying the plane containing the C.U.I. heir, they engaged in conflict with the United Kingdom and United States.Flight BA178, November 25th, 2011 // Simurgh Notes: Loss? Plane destroyed, Eidolon/Pretender drive off Endbringer. Marks start of guerilla tactics from Simurgh and Leviathan. Target/Consequence: Incognito Chinese Union-Imperial heir. See files: America/CUI conflict 2012 A UK/CUI Conflict 2012 A America/CUI conflict 2012 B Yàngbǎn - Excerpt from Scarab 25.6 They refused to allow Doormaker or Faultline's Crew to open portals within their territory in preparation for the End of the World."Yàngbǎn," Tattletale said. "Refused to let Faultline or Cauldron open up any portals in the C.U.I. territories, and then the moment things got ugly, they invaded the portals others made instead. Striking American settlements. Including ours, potentially. Part of the reason for Bitch's patrolling right now. Wouldn't mind you doing a double-check of the area with your bugs, when you're up for it." - Cockroaches 28.1 Gold Morning A group of Yàngbǎn attended the meeting of all the major powers at the beginning of the crisis, but contributed nothing of note. including Earth Tav. Punitive measures were taken against the group, later justified as them breaking the Truce.“They broke the truce,” I echoed Tattletale. “The code has been there since the beginning. If a bigger threat shows up, we band together. We don’t distract each other with attacks or murder attempts, we don’t take advantage of the situation to fuck with civilians. The truce is there for a reason, and it has weight because everyone knows that they can’t handle the trouble that gets express-delivered to their doorsteps when they’ve defied it.”Excerpt form Cockroaches 28.5 Were forcibly recruited when the parahumans began cooperating.Speck 30.3 Ward At some point The Yàngbǎn was subsumed by the Teacher's Group. Post-Time Bubble Pop The Yàngbǎn augmented thralls were keeping Legend's squad contained during the Wardens' attack on Teacher's Compound. They were accidentally wiped out by the crash of Victory I.Interlude 15.x II Trivia *Yàngbǎn is Mandarin for "template" or "prototype". Category:Groups and Organizations